Made in New York Media Centre by IFP Demo Day: VR AXS Map Wins

The night of the Made in New York Media Centre by IFP’s Demo Day, VR AXS Map, a platform exploiting VR to help the disabled pre-visit and share information with regards to accessible public spaces, was named the winner.

Abdulezer said after the event, “We’ve got some very interesting technology and capabilities, and when you marry that to important ideas you can do extraordinary things. What was great about the presentation is that everybody in the room ‘got it’ — they saw the significance and potential of what VR AXS Map can do.”

Abdulezer said the company is looking for $250,000 to finance the next round of plans, and that he hopes the win “will open doors” and enable VRX AXS Map to scale up and include even more spaces. “What we need is equipment so that we can cover and scan more sites. That’s a lot of work, and it requires more staffing. We also have to develop software to make this even more accessible.”

“We understand the needs of start-ups disrupting the world of media and designed our community and support at the intersection of media and technology,” said IFP Executive Director Joana Vicente in a press release. “VR AXS Map is part of a new crop of innovators guided by our mentors and industry partners and we congratulate them on their success.”

Vicente along with Julie Menin got the event started with its introduction, Commissioner of the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME), Maria Torres-Springer, President and CEO, New York City Economic Development Corporation and Minerva Tantoco, Chief Technology Officer, City of New York were all present at the event.

Vicente explains about the work the Media Centre does with VR companies, “There’s so much conversation right now about VR content and hardware, and we’re happy to see business start-ups looking into the possibilities of monetizing VR.”

Finally, the project that could interest the Filmmaker readers was Throwing Fruit, which “empowers content creators through mobile apps,” Heather Leonard the founder, citing the issues creators like independent filmmakers face in distributing their works through the traditional means (middlemen distributors are required) or through OTT channels like YouTube or Vimeo (“problems of monetization,” Leonard said), Throwing Fruit builds apps for creators that enable work to be bought via the various app stores. Throwing Fruit creates the apps, places them in the various storefronts and takes a monthly fee plus a small revenue share.

The five companies presenting were all start-ups that have been growing under at Demo Day Training Program of the DUMBO-based Media Centre. Vicente said,“Our business advisors are quite a unique collection that helps companies extract what their business idea is and to prepare a clear, compelling visual pitch. It’s a transformative process for them. We see at the beginning these companies’ first iterations, and by the end of the process their business models have often changed. Their value proposition is clearer, and their audiences have been well defined. Often people with creative minds are surprised by how important it is to create their projects as business endeavors and to ask themselves, ‘Who is my audience?’”

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